Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience

About this episode

This episode discusses the structural challenges in experiential learning and how to effectively implement programs like Sandbox to enhance workforce readiness.

Most institutions offer experiential learning. Few deliver it. The gap between the claim and the outcome is structural, and closing it requires more than a better course design. In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Chris Crittenden, founder of Sandbox , a for-credit startup incubator operating at eight universities, about what it actually takes to produce the depth of learning that institutions advertise but rarely achieve. Drawing on his experience founding and selling a technology company to Walmart, leading the entrepreneur center at Brigham Young University, and building Sandbox across multiple institutions, Crittenden explains how credit consolidation, real stakes, and interdisciplinary structure create the conditions for genuine learning. He also addresses how an AI-powered oral examination system solves the assessment problem that has long undermined open-ended experiential programs, and how institutions can build a program like Sandbox without triggering a substantive accreditation review. This conversation is especially relevant for presidents, provosts, and academic leaders looking to close the gap between what their…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Drumm McNaughton

Guest: Chris Crittenden

Topics covered

• experiential learning
• workforce readiness
• startup incubators
• credit consolidation
• assessment in education

Keywords

• experiential learning
• workforce capability
• startup experience
• credit consolidation
• AI assessment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sandbox, Walmart, Brigham Young University

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